Guardian writers’ predicted position: 16th (NB: this is not necessarily Ed Aarons’ prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) After winning a third trophy in the space of 12 months under Oliver Glasner with the Conference League triumph at the end of May, Crystal Palace fans were brought down to earth with a bump at the start of July when the Austrian was unveiled as Nottingham Forest’s new manager. Seeing the man who led the south London club to the first major honours in their history jump ship to the team who many believe played a part in Palace’s demotion from the Europa League was a bitter pill to swallow, even if the highly rated Pierre Sage had been confirmed as Glasner’s replacement three weeks earlier. While the fans must wait until October for him and Forest to visit Selhurst Park, the Frenchman’s task is now to try to build on Glasner’s unprecedented success while juggling the demands of a Europa League campaign.
The departure of Maxence Lacroix has left Palace’s defence without a natural leader and replacing the France defender with a similar character could go a long way to determining how they fare. Daichi Kamada’s decision to sign a new one-year contract rather than follow Glasner out of the door means that – at the time of writing – eight of the players who started in the FA Cup final victory over Manchester City last year remain at the club. The tricky bit will be holding on to the likes of Daniel Muñoz, Adam Wharton and Ismaïla Sarr until the window closes, with Muñoz attracting interest from Saudi Arabia.
Spending around £80m on Jørgen Strand Larsen and Brennan Johnson in January looks even more mistaken after agreeing a deal with Everton to swap the latter for Dwight McNeil seven months later. That has restricted Palace’s budget this summer and could come back to haunt Sage if he cannot strengthen the squad sufficiently with another marathon season ahead. To everyone’s great relief, work finally started on the new main stand at Selhurst Park this summer almost a decade after the plans were first announced.
Expected to cost at least £150m and be completed by late 2028 or early 2029, it will increase the capacity of Selhurst Park to 34,000. Yet the financial strain of a much-needed project has complicated matters off the pitch, with Josh Harris, David Blitzer, and Woody Johnson reportedly keen to sell their combined 79% stakes despite Palace’s recent success. It will be up to Steve Parish, the chair who has guided Palace through their best-ever era, to convince them to stay on or find some new partners.
Having stepped in to help rescue Palace from administration in 2010, lifelong supporter Parish has been instrumental in establishing the club in the Premier League and will always be remembered for leading them to a first major piece of silverware. But that doesn’t mean he is exempt from criticism and there are many fans who blame the 61-year-old for failing to keep hold of Glasner after not strengthening the squad sufficiently last summer after their FA Cup success. Palace are still missing the calming influence and talent-spotting skills of Dougie Freedman, the former sporting director who surprisingly left for Saudi Arabia last March.
Sage worked wonders at Lens last season in only his second senior post as a manager, guiding them to second place in Ligue 1 before winning the Coupe de France. Having cut his teeth as a youth team coach at Lyon, the 47-year-old from eastern France who stopped playing at the age of 24 to concentrate on his coaching career seized his opportunity when he was promoted to become interim manager in November 2023. But he lasted only a year having been given the job permanently before moving to Lens six months later.
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